Kinder wins third state title

By By Rhett Manuel / American PressNEW ORLEANS — The Kinder Yellow Jackets’ football team won its first state football championship in 35 years, beating the top-seeded Many Tigers by a 34-20 margin Friday night in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

Down 20-18 after the third quarter, Kinder scored 16 unanswered points in the final quarter to take home its third state title in school history.

Kinder jumped out to a 12-7 lead atthe end of the first quarter behind an 18-yard touchdown run by quarterback Austin Pickle and a 61-yard interception returned for a touchdown by cornerback Khalil Leblanc.

Running back Jordan Vickers, Kinder’s most outstanding player in the game, scored a 55-yard touchdown in the second quarter to give the Jackets an 18-7 halftime lead.

Kinder ran into some tough sledding in the third quarter as Many scored 14 points and held the ‘Jackets to one first down to take the 20-18 lead.

Many’s star quarterback, Xavier Dias, struggled to do damage against the Kinder defense, completing only 4 of 16 passes while throwing 4 interceptions. He was also limited to 37 yards rushing.

Overall, the Kinder defense held Many to 262 yards of total offense. Leblanc had two interceptions, and Vickers had a game-high 192 rushing yards.